A group of New York Mets fans raised over $6,000 to fund the placement of billboards on Roosevelt Avenue by the No. 7 subway line in Queens that will undoubtedly be visible to thousands of the team's fans. Will they help build pressure for the Wilpons to sell the Mets' franchise?
They read, "FRED, JEFF & SAUL, Ya Gotta Leave" and "FRED, JEFF & SAUL, Sell the Team."
The names refer to owners Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz.
The Mets are located in one of the biggest markets in all of baseball and yet they have the 21st ranked payroll after having committed $101,344,283 to the 2015 season, according to Baseball Prospectus. The Wilpons, who have been the majority owners of the Mets' franchise since 2002, were affected by the Bernie Madoff scandal and cut the team's payroll as a result in recent years to cope with their losses.
However, it's been quite some time since that incident and fans believe the current owners need to sell the team if they don't have the resources to build a capable contender in perhaps the most advantageous market in the United States.
"They asked us to be patient through the Madoff issue and to let them go through their rebuilding process, and then they said when the time was ready, they were going to reinvest back into the team and get it ready for competitiveness," Gary Palumbo, the man who helped raise money for the billboards, told The Associated Press. "That was supposed to be last year, but with the Harvey injury, that kind of set everything back. And so once we went into this offseason and they signed [Michael] Cuddyer and then did nothing else, that was really the tipping point for me. That demonstrated that the Wilpons are still not financially capable of doing what needs to be done for the long-term best of the team."
Since 2012 the team's payroll has been between $93 million and $102 million, which is nowhere near what it should be considering it's in the New York market. Other teams in major cities, such as the Dodgers ($275 million), Yankees ($217 million), Red Sox ($180 million), Giants ($173 million) and Tigers ($172 million) have payrolls that dwarf the Mets.
Last year there were reports that Katz may sell his shares, but he refuted that notion shortly thereafter. Additionally, the Wilpons have made no indication they are willing to sell, and instead Fred Wilpon has vowed to be more engaged with the team.
"We've seen him a lot. He's around a lot," Mets third baseman David Wright told Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com in March. "We talk to him quite a bit."
Wilpon also had good things to say after Monday's home opener win over the Phillies.
"Happy opening," he told the New York Post. "I'm excited about this team and I'm hopeful. One doesn't know - we've all been around a long time - but the fact is I like the guys on this team. I think there is a lot of talent and I think there is a lot of character."
New York has seemingly adopted a different philosophy by building their farm system, which features recent home-grown players such as Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, Juan Lagares, Wilmer Flores, and soon-to-be major leaguers Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, Dilson Herrera and others.
Perhaps this was their way of coping with the Madoff scandal. Instead of signing players to long-term, expensive financial commitments (we don't need to provide a list), they're opting to be more prudent in bolstering their farm system. However, they are in the New York market, so fans will want to see them lock up some of their players to big deals or bring in a top free agent when the team is expected to contend.
Signing a 36-year-old right fielder to a two-year, $21 million deal and surrendering a first-round draft pick isn't quite what the fans had in mind this offseason.
However, the Mets will relieve themselves of over $20 million after 2015 when the contracts of Bartolo Colon, Daniel Murphy, Bobby Parnell and Jerry Blevins come off the books. If they have a promising campaign in 2015 and fail to lure another star to the Big Apple in the offseason, the calls for the Wilpons to sell to see will grow even louder.
Perhaps the MLB steps in at that point and new commissioner Rob Manfred takes action, but only time will tell.
